Expanded GI Bill will help veterans

BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ
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His entire last year in the Army, Alain Eustache was ready to leave military life behind and pursue a college education.

''I was just waiting; it was basically a countdown,'' said Eustache, 32, now studying video production at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.

Starting this fall, Eustache and other post-9/11 vets won't have to fret as hard about paying for school. A new, more-generous GI Bill takes effect Aug. 1, offering hundreds of thousands of returning soldiers greater flexibility and financial assistance in pursuing their college dreams.

Congress approved the beefed-up college aid package last year.

''This was one of the most important bills we passed,'' said Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton.

This week, Klein hosted a GI Bill benefits fair at Broward College's North Campus to help get the word out. Eustache, who works for the Fort Lauderdale Veterans Affairs office, was on hand passing out fliers and brochures.

Broward College expects its veteran student population, normally 600 to 700 students for the fall semester, to increase by about 20 percent this year -- due to both the new GI Bill and the return of previously deployed soldiers. The school has hired a veterans coordinator to help handle the influx.

Statewide, more than 36,000 veterans enrolled in Florida colleges in 2007-2008 -- and that number is expected to increase dramatically in the next couple of years.

Among the changes in the ''21st Century GI Bill'': Veterans used to receive $1,321 per month for all college costs -- now they'll get about that much just to pay for housing. In addition, the federal government will also pay the full cost of in-state tuition at a public school and provide a $1,000 annual stipend for books and supplies.

''The housing allowance is definitely going to help me move out and things like that, and get back on my feet,'' said Krystle Musica, 24, who finished 3 ½ years in the Coast Guard in March. Musica, who lives with her parents in Miramar, plans on attending Broward College's South Campus and is mulling over a career in zoology.

''I love working with kids, and I love working with animals,'' she said.

Nationally, an estimated half-million veterans are eligible for the new GI Bill, though it is unknown how many will take advantage of it.

TAKING ADVANTAGE

Those veterans hoping to enroll this fall should apply with the Department of Veterans Affairs soon, as the department must confirm that a student qualifies before the money starts flowing. That process can take six to eight weeks.

More than 1,000 private colleges have signed up to stretch the expanded GI benefits even further. As part of the GI Bill's ''Yellow Ribbon'' program, these schools have agreed to contribute thousands of dollars to each veteran's tuition bill -- money that is then matched by the federal government.

In some cases, that Yellow Ribbon contribution, combined with the base tuition allowance, is enough to enable vets to attend a private university absolutely free.

That will likely be the scenario for veterans pursuing undergrad degrees at Barry University in Miami Shores. Barry has pledged $9,660 a year toward each veteran's tuition cost. That money, plus the federal match and standard GI bill contribution -- which the government is still calculating for Florida -- should be enough to cover Barry's $26,400 annual tuition.

''Assisting our men and women who served their nation in the armed forces is just one way we live our mission,'' said Dart Humeston, director of financial aid.

Other local private universities participating in the Yellow Ribbon program include the University of Miami (a $3,000 undergraduate match) and Nova Southeastern University (match ranges from $2,000 to $3,500).

SOME CAVEATS

One catch with Yellow Ribbon benefits: Some schools cap the number of veteran students that they will subsidize, with spots filling up on a first-come, first-serve basis.

For the first time ever, the new GI Bill also allows veterans to pass their benefits along to a spouse or child, but with some limitations. Such transfers require the veteran having already served for six years -- and committing for four more. The Yellow Ribbon portion of the GI Bill is nontransferable.

Veterans who are enrolled under the current GI Bill can switch to the new one, but those who have already exhausted their GI Bill benefits can't.

That, says Eustache, the Art Institute student, is perhaps the biggest flaw -- some Iraq War veterans will have missed out because they completed school too soon.

''This war has been going since 2003,'' Eustache said. ``It's a little late. A lot of people already went to college.''